Using Materials to Think

Advances in science provide the means to probe matter on increasingly minute and vast scales, expanding human senses and calling into question what it means to know and perceive. As we learn more about the materials and forces which shape our world, we piece together data and thought using a variety of approaches—mathematics, models and metaphors—to develop our understanding and enable us to describe and communicate our ideas.

On 17 March 2018, the Intellectual Forum hosted an interactive workshop for the Cambridge Science Festival, wherein participants created three dimensional drawings using a process of thinking with objects with sculptor Melissa Pierce Murray. Participants explored questions and example relating to how artists and scientists develop conceptual and physical metaphors to make sense of the world. 

The workshop also included a discussion of Murray’s collaborative work with artists and scientists, showing how her sculptures draw on the disciplines of physics, poetry and art.